Chapter 623 - 625: The Old Fox’s Proposal
Bai Ruozhu picked up the invitation and skimmed over it. The message only mentioned inviting the lady and young lady of the Bai family to a feast, the date was to be decided by the Bai family, and the venue was chosen to be the Welcome Restaurant. The letter was signed by Lady Zheng.
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but laugh, "Why is everyone choosing Welcome Restaurant? It seems that Shen Lu’s business is doing quite well."
"Isn’t that the case? All the good feasts in Beiyu City are now being held at Welcome Restaurant, even some families hosting banquets in their homes are ordering tables from Welcome Restaurant." Lin Ping’er said with envy.
Bai Ruozhu laughed and asked, "So, when is the date set?"
"The steward who delivered the invitation was incredibly enthusiastic. He kept thanking me and I couldn’t resist his enthusiasm so I set it for tomorrow noon. It is said that the master of the Zheng family is not present. Therefore, the lady only invited the females from our family. So, it will just be the two of us along with Guizhi tomorrow," Lin Ping’er said.
Bai Ruozhu nodded. Her sister-in-law should stay at home and rest for her pregnancy and it would be best not to walk around too often.
The next noon, the three girls from Bai family went to Welcome Restaurant and left Dengdeng with Bai Yihong to look after.
Upon arriving at the private room and seeing Lady Zheng, Bai Ruozhu was surprised. She recognized Lady Zheng.
"Miss Bai, we meet again," Lady Zheng stood up, greeted Bai Ruozhu with a laugh, and said to Lin Ping’er, "This must be Lady Bai. If it wasn’t for you reporting to the authorities, I would have still been deceived by a cunning servant."
Lin Ping’er hurriedly returned the compliment, "You are too kind. How do you know my daughter?"
Bai Ruozhu replied with a smile, "Lady Zheng is acquainted with Sister Hongxiu. When we went to the Meng family’s banquet before, Sister Hongxiu introduced us."
"Let’s sit down and talk," Lady Zheng smiled at the three and motioned for them to sit down. She was in her early twenties and had a sharp chin. She was the epitome of a traditional beauty.
The four of them sat down to order dishes and soon began to chat.
"It was because I didn’t manage my servants well that someone stole the field deed and tricked others with it. It’s fortunate that it didn’t cause you to suffer any losses, otherwise, I would truly be to blame." Lady Zheng apologized with a smile, "Originally my husband should host a feast for you today but he happened to have been sent on official business to the West a few months ago. As a woman, it would be inconvenient for me to invite male guests at home. I’m really sorry."
Upon hearing this, Lin Ping’er hurriedly said, "It’s all right. It’s enough for us to chat."
Bai Ruozhu carefully thought about it. When Yu Hongxiu introduced her last time, it seemed like Lady Zheng’s husband was a military officer. Did he go to the West for battle? Were there going to be border wars?
She dared not ask more, but she couldn’t help thinking about the affairs between Xuantian Mountain and Turkic Country, and the four doctors who came to learn the suturing technique from her have all disappeared. This made her feel somewhat uneasy.
Lady Zheng only knew that Sui Lun had taken the field deed to deceive people and was later seized by the Bai’s and handed over to the government office. The government office then returned the fields to the Zheng family. However, Lady Zheng did not know the specifics, and so questioned about it.
Bai Ruozhu informed her about everything in detail. When Lady Zheng heard that Sui Lun had even colluded with a group of ruffians, her expression fluctuated, "That was really dangerous. Fortunately, you had the Tu siblings as company. I must give my thanks to them another day."
After the meal, Lady Zheng had gotten much closer to the Bai’s mother and daughter trio. Since Lady Zheng’s husband wasn’t home, it was inconvenient for her to move about freely, so she invited them to visit her residence when they had spare time, to help ease her boredom.
Before Bai Ruozhu had a chance to speak, Lin Ping’er agreed, as she herself found it quite boring to stay at home all day.
After the meal, Bai Ruozhu and her company bid Lady Zheng farewell and prepared to leave, but unexpectedly, they were met by the shopkeeper. He said quietly to Bai Ruozhu, "Miss Bai, our boss would like to see you."
Upon hearing that Shen Lu was here, Bai Ruozhu figured he was probably looking for her to discuss the fresh noodle soup, so she said to her mother and Guizhi, "I have some matters to discuss with the boss of this place. Why don’t the two of you go to the nearby ready-made clothes shop and jewelry store and look around, just don’t go too far."
After speaking, she handed a hundred taels silver banknote to her mother, "Feel free to buy anything you like. Don’t skimp on yourself."
Watching Bai Ruozhu’s hurried departure, Lin Ping’er couldn’t help but chuckle and mutter, "That girl, what could we possibly lack? Nowadays, we have everything we could possibly wish for. Even in my dreams, I couldn’t have imagined it."
Fang Guizhi nodded hard, "Yeah, I don’t know how many times better it is now than when I was in the village."
Bai Ruozhu had already gone to the backyard of the restaurant and soon saw Shen Lu. Seeing him flushed and beaming, it seems not only was his body in good condition, but his mood was also excellent.
"Miss Bai, please sit down and have a taste of a new tea I’ve brewed." Shen Lu personally poured Bai Ruozhu a cup of tea.
Bai Ruozhu took a sip of the tea, "Thank you, Mr. Shen."
"You haven’t been coming over to deliver goods recently, it’s so hard for me to see you." Shen Lu said with a hearty laugh.
"I just came to your place to treat friends to a meal a few days ago. Unfortunately, you were not here, so our schedules didn’t match." Bai Ruozhu said.
Shen Lu stroked his beard, laughing warmly and affably. "Miss Bai, we have been partners for a while now. The success of the Welcome Restaurant today is largely thanks to your help. I’m someone who knows how to return a favor. Thus, after much consideration, I’ve decided to offer you a 10% share in Welcome Restaurant."
Welcome Restaurant’s business is thriving. Saying that it’s making a fortune every day would not be an exaggeration. These 10% shares could bring Bai Ruozhu a large sum of money every month, and definitely more than her share from the Du Family’s toothpaste sales!
However, Bai Ruozhu was well aware that there was no such thing as a free lunch. Upon looking at Shen Lu, she immediately understood his intentions. This cunning old fox, Shen Lu, was trying to buy out her fresh noodle soup recipe.
She smiled and said, "Mr. Shen, let’s be straightforward, I understand your intentions. But someone will eventually figure out the secret of the fresh soup noodles, and even your chef may leak it out. By then, me being a partner would be quite useless, wouldn’t you say you’d lose out on the deal?"
"Not at all, even if the secret of the fresh soup noodles cannot be kept, there are still plenty of reasons for me to partner with you, Miss Bai. Your fresh orange snow Mimi recipe, your various whimsical recipes, and your ingenuity are all worth this 10% stake." Shen Lu stated seriously.
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but take another look at Shen Lu. She had always felt that partnering with Shen Lu was much more pleasant than partnering with the Du family, even though Shen Lu was also cunning. Today, because of what he said, her impression of Shen Lu greatly improved.
"Mr. Shen, you flatter me. You should know that I am working with the Du family on the toothpaste business. I struggled to manage...", she helplessly shook her head. "I am weak, and people think I am easy to bully. It resulted in destroying our relationship from the start so...". She deliberately dragged her voice, implying that if she were to accept shares, it would mean partnering with Shen Lu. Business collaborations were very common in the business world, but she didn’t want to encounter someone untrustworthy again.
Upon hearing this, Shen Lu burst into laughter, "To show my sincerity, I can give Miss Bai a big gift."